Editor’s note: The following is a roundup of stories related to election cybersecurity.It’s the key principle underlying democracy. Through the history of democratic elections, people have created many safeguards to ensure votes are cast and counted fairly: paper ballots, curtains around voting booths, locked ballot boxes, supervised counting, provisions for recounting and more. With the advent of computer technology has come the prospect of faster counting of votes, and even, some hope, more secure and accurate voting. That’s much harder to achieve than it might seem, though. Here are highlights of The Conversation’s coverage of why that is. After the debacle of the 2000 election’s efforts to count votes, the federal government handed out massive amounts of money to the states to buy newer voting equipment that, everyone hoped, would avoid a repeat of the “hanging chad” mess. But more than a decade later, as Lawrence Norden and Christopher Famighetti at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University explain, that one-time cash infusion has left a troubling legacy:

Imagine you went to your basement and dusted off the laptop or mobile phone that you used in 2002. sturbridge navy blue shower curtainWhat would happen if you tried to turn it on? curtains and sheers nairobiWe don’t have to guess. walmart flame retardant curtainsAround the country this election year, people are going into storage, pulling out computers that date back to 2002 and asking us to vote on them.curtains 46x46 They asked election officials around the country about the situation, and report on some worrying findings, including how vulnerable the equipment is to cyberattack, and how voting machine breakdowns lead to long lines that deter voters from participating.pink curtains pg chennai

Also limiting voter turnout is the fact that most voting machines don’t make accommodations for people with physical disabilities that affect how they vote. swish curtain rail glidersJuan Gilbert at the University of Florida quantifies the problem:tesco curtains duck egg blue “In the 2012 presidential election, … The turnout rate for voters with disabilities was 5.7 percent lower than for people without disabilities. If voters with disabilities had voted at the same rate as those without a disability, there would have been three million more voters weighing in on issues of local, state and national significance.” To date, most efforts to solve the problems have involved using special voting equipment just for people with particular disabilities. That’s expensive and inefficient – and remember, separate is not equal.

Gilbert has invented an open-source (read: inexpensive) voting machine system that can be used by people with many different disabilities, as well as people without disabilities. With the system, which has been tested and approved in several states, voters can cast their ballots using a keyboard, a joystick, physical buttons, a touchscreen or even their voice. Nearly every voting machine in use, though, is vulnerable to various sorts of cyberattacks. For years, researchers have documented ways to tamper with vote counts, and yet few machines have had their cyberdefenses upgraded. The fact that the election system is so widespread – with multiple machines in every municipality nationwide – also makes it weaker, writes Richard Forno at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County: There are simply more opportunities for an attacker to find a way in. “Voter registration and administration systems operated by state and national governments are at risk too. Hacks here could affect voter rosters and citizen databases.

Failing to secure these systems and records could result in fraudulent information in the voter database that may lead to improper (or illegal) voter registrations and potentially the casting of fraudulent votes.” Even if an attack never happens – or if nobody can prove one happened – November’s election is vulnerable to sore losers taking advantage of the fact that cyberweaknesses exist. There is more than enough evidence that a cyberattack is possible. And just that prospect could destabilize the country, argues Herbert Lin of Stanford University: Imagine that on Nov. 9, the day after Election Day, the early presidential election returns show that Donald Trump has lost. Trump could call the electronically tallied vote counts obviously fraudulent. Even without pointing to any internal campaign polling suggesting he would win, he could highlight the indisputable fact that no one knows what is going on inside the voting machines. It’s enough to make you turn out to vote, and keep you up all night afterward.

Designed by Venturi, Brown, and Associates, this visually striking addition to the Allen Memorial Art complex is one of the earliest examples of Postmodern Architecture in the country.  Home to the AMAM Ellen Johnson Gallery for Modern & Contemporary Art and Art Library, it also houses Oberlin College Art Department’s main office, faculty & staff offices, seminar room, digital media, photography, book arts, woodshop, and sculpture studios.    In keeping with the Italian Renaissance Architectural Style of the Allen Memorial Art Museum designed by Cass Gilbert in 1917, art historian and museum director Clarence Ward designed this 1937 addition to the AMAM.   This addition is now home to Oberlin College Art Department’s art history classrooms, visual resource center, the Milton L. Fisher Hall, faculty & staff offices, painting & reproducible Media Classrooms, and the Senior Studios. When originally built this 200 seat auditorium located in the center of the Clarence Ward ‘37 Addition contained a “multitude of modern conveniences” including dimmable lights, automatic curtains, and a public address system.

In 1994 with the generous support of Milton L. Fisher, the auditorium was transformed into Fisher Hall, a multi-purpose gallery and lecture facility.  Fisher Hall continues to serve the department hosting a variety of installations and performances including exhibitions in the department's capstone Senior Studio program. Originally built in the 1960’s from prefabricated geodesic kits, the North and South Domes were built and erected by student and faculty volunteers and used for introductory studio classes and sculpture woodshop.   Renovated in the early 1980’s to the present structure, the Domes are now home to the Art Department’s drawing program. Prior to the Art Department occupying this Historic downtown location in 2008, the second floor of the Hobbs building was a tattoo parlor.  It now houses private student studios servicing the department’s capstone Senior Studio program and advanced individual projects. Built in 1939 in honor of Lina R. Hales by her son G. Willard Hales class of 1900, Hales Gymnasium was originally built as a physical education space for women and now is home to a variety of classrooms, offices, and uses. 

The lower level Hales Art Studio accommodates a variety of curricular needs and provides opportunity for students to work large in a variety of media including installation and performance. Thanks to a generous donation from Richard D. Baron class of 1964, the Oberlin College Art Department is privileged to have this beautiful multi-use exhibition facility.  The gallery was dedicated October 9th, 2010 and has since provided exhibition and event opportunities to a variety of student, faculty, local, and international artists. This small, modern classroom offers faculty and students a flexible studio experience augmenting the existing curriculum in drawing, painting, printmaking, and advanced individual projects. Originally built as an automobile dealership, 164 E. Lorain St. was purchased by Oberlin College in 1988 and was converted to its current configuration to provide art faculty with research studios. In 1968, to alleviate crowding in the 1937 Clarence Ward addition, the Art Department was given possession of the “yellow house” on the corner of Lorain St. and Willard Court.